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From Our Own Correspondent

Valentina’s Kiosk

From Our Own Correspondent

BBC

News, News Commentary

4.41.3K Ratings

🗓️ 23 July 2022

⏱️ 29 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Stories from Russia, Ukraine, Lebanon and South Africa Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is now entering its six-month and there’s still no signs of any possible resolution or ceasefire. Russian citizens continue to be fed a daily diet of propaganda on State TV, with fewer and fewer sources of independent news. But the conflict is nevertheless taking its toll on Russian citizens as soldiers go out to the frontline, never to return, which has left families questioning the government line that the Ukraine invasion is necessary. To keep abreast of the Russian point of view, Steve Rosenburg has a daily ritual: buying his newspapers each day from his local newspaper kiosk, run by a woman called Valentina. He tells her story. In Ukraine, a recent missile attack in the city of Vinnytsia, in central-west Ukraine has served as a stark reminder of the indiscriminate nature of Russia's military onslaught. Everyday routines have become fraught with hazard, from a trip to the shops to a walk to school, even in those cities considered to be safe. Sarah Rainsford has been in Vinnytsia and Mykolaiv. The Lebanese economy is in a state of collapse, but the government hopes that the summer tourist season, when many Lebanese living abroad return for a holiday, will provide a much-needed boost. But any visitor must navigate a tangled web of erratic exchange rates, as Angelica Jopson has found. And finally, to South Africa’s West Coast, the site of a large saltwater lagoon situated in a National Park, around 55 miles north of Cape Town. The area, which is also a marine reserve, attracts numerous water birds and sea life, as the Atlantic waves pound its edge. Antonia Quirke went to explore the lagoon.

Presenter: Kate Adie Producer: Serena Tarling Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts

0:05.0

Today we're in Venusia and Mikolayev in Ukraine, where from one second to the next, normal

0:11.9

life is tragically upended by Russian missile attacks.

0:16.9

In Lebanon's capital Beirut, we hear how the ever fluctuating exchange rate baffles

0:22.6

both visitors and locals as they try to estimate the cost of their daily supplies.

0:28.6

£120 for a salad, surely not.

0:32.9

And we're in South Africa, on the west coast, where we visit the Langerbahn Lagoon, where

0:38.6

relics of old trade routes wash up on the shore and water birds swoop.

0:44.4

At first Moscow, Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine is now entering its sixth month,

0:51.4

and there's still no signs of any possible resolution or hope of a ceasefire.

0:56.8

Indeed this week, Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavorov spoke about expanding the

1:02.4

offensive to southern Ukraine, signaling Moscow's continued resolve.

1:08.6

Russian citizens continue to be fed a daily diet of propaganda on state TV about the so-called

1:14.7

special operation, with fewer and fewer sources of independent news.

1:20.5

But the conflict is nevertheless taking its toll on Russian citizens, as soldiers go

1:26.0

out to the front line, never to return.

1:29.9

Steve Rosenberg has been a correspondent in Moscow for nearly two decades, and to keep

1:35.0

abreast of the Russian point of view, he has a daily ritual, buying his newspapers, each

1:41.3

day from his local newspaper Kiosk, run by a woman called Valentina.

1:47.7

At a time when President Putin's war has left Russia's international reputation in Tatars,

1:54.0

Steve says this very special newspaper vendor has helped him retain faith in the Russian

1:59.8

people, and he remembers the time they first met.

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